The Key to Effective Storytelling in Sales Presentations

What’s the key to a great pitch? In our humble opinion, it’s storytelling. 

You’ve likely heard of the transformative power of storytelling in a speaker-audience setting. From Forbes to Harvard Business Review, storytelling has been making headlines in business as a way to boost engagement, memory retention and impact. And while it may be trending, it’s anything but a fad. In fact, we’re up to 22 times more likely to remember information if it’s part of a story. 

At Future Present, we’re big proponents of using narrative storytelling to build smashing presentations. We’ve used it on some of our biggest projects, including countless winning pitch decks. 

But storytelling in itself isn’t the key to a truly fantastic pitch. Adding some tension and a narrative structure might make your pitch more engaging, but they won’t deliver your prospect to you on a platter. Not unless you’ve got the secret ingredient… 

Casting Your Story 

Think of your pitch as a story with you, your product or service and your prospect as the characters. If you choose to make your brand the Hero of the story, you’ll likely end up with the deck that spends too much time on the features of your product or solution, the inner workings of the company and the values of the brand. 

But with your prospect as the Hero of your presentation, the need to list every single feature and every executive on your payroll melts away. Yes, you’re still selling, but your product isn’t at the heart of your presentation. Instead, you’re focused on your Hero’s needs, wants and challenges. 

What’s your role? You’re the Guide. You’re the wise mentor, the Dumbledore to your prospect’s Harry Potter, the Yoda to their Luke Skywalker. It’s your job to answer their questions, soothe their concerns and guide them toward the perfect solution to their problem: the one your brand delivers. 

Making Your Prospect The Hero 

Making your prospect the Hero of your pitch is about tailoring your presentation to fit their needs. We’ve gathered a few points to help you customise your pitch: 

1. Know your prospect. Before building your pitch, spend time researching your prospect. With a deep understanding of their challenges and goals, you’ll be able to adapt your pitch to resonate with them. For example, retail buyers want to increase footfall, grow the category and meet KPIs, but delivering on the challenges unique to your prospect will put your presentation over the top. If, for example, your prospect is struggling with penetration in a specific demographic, you’ll know to highlight the feature that appeals to that demographic instead of spending time on your product’s full suite of features. 

2. Use data wisely. You’re probably drowning in market research, consumer insights and demand forecasts, but how do you decide what to include in your pitch? Prospects are data-driven decision-makers, but irrelevant or unnecessary information can cloud your message and waste their time (and yours). When you structure your pitch as a story with your prospect as the Hero, you’ll be able to narrow your data to include only the points they need to hear. 

3. Make it easy. Your audience are busy and decision fatigue is rife, so making your prospect the Hero of your pitch is making about it as easy as possible for them to choose your product. Providing ample clear, useful proof of your unique value proposition, your understanding of the key dynamics of the category and how your product will enhance the prospect’s existing offering will reduce the amount of analysis they have to do and help them to make that decision. 

As you craft your next presentation, give our advice a try. Think of yourself as your prospect’s all-knowing guide, leading them toward the solution to their problems. If you come prepared with a deck that positions your prospect as the Hero, your pitch will knock their socks off.